This invention relates to a food product made from the stumps of mushrooms, which have heretofore been wasted. The invention also relates to a method for making this product.
Mushrooms are typically picked by grasping the stalk, pushing down slightly, twisting and then lifting the mushroom. This releases the mushroom from the soil in the area of what are sometimes called "the root", though actually the "roots" are a network of mycelium fibers. Much compost material, often largely consisting of casing soil, in which the mushrooms are grown not only adheres to the sides of the mushrooms but is included in the inner portions of the so-called "root". In order to get rid of this soil--herein called "dirt"--and other inedible materials, the stalk is typically sliced, and, heretofore, the bottom portion which contains the compost or dirt has been discarded.
This discarded stump amounts to about 20% of the total weight of the mushroom. The stumps of one mushroom grower that have had to be discarded over 1 year's operations under the present procedures have been found to weigh about 9 million pounds. Even the destruction of the stumps is expensive, costing this grower about $50,000.00 per year.
Some years ago a research project was instituted to try to find out how to utilize this immense waste of a product that contains much valuable food, but no adequate technique for washing and utilizing the mushroom stumps was discovered.
Thus, an important object of the present invention is to utilize the heretofore-discarded mushroom stumps as the basis for a food product, high in protein, which is safely edible and can be used in many foods.
Due to great difficulties heretofore encountered in washing the stumps and due to the fact that this washing has not been able to get rid of all the compost or dirt, there seems to be no conventional way of processing the stumps to arrive at an acceptable product. However, another important object of the invention is to prepare the mushroom stumps in such a way that a food product is produced which may be used as a flavoring agent in soup bases and also may be used as part of or in a broad range of industrial and institutional food items, including bouillon cubes, ptotein-flavor potentiators, dips, gravies, and not only for human foods but also for pet foods for certain pets.